Marking articles



May 30, 1961 H. MEYER ET AL 2,936,298

MARKING ARTICLES Filed June 24, 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventors Hans Meyer Henry fines D ohmau y g: L L4,, Attome May 30, 1961 H. MEYER ET AL MARKING ARTICLES Filed June 24, 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventors Hem-gfames DolY'n ah 3 Q )gmgz Attorney Ma 30, 1961 H. MEYER ET AL 2,986,298

MARKING ARTICLES Filed June 24, 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventors Hans M yer Hehnl Jaws Do/mih Attorney May 30, 1961 H. MEYER ETAL 2,986,298

MARKING ARTICLES Filed June 24, 195 7 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Inventors H Meyer Henry James Dolmah A ltorne'y May 30, 1961 H. MEYER ET AL 2,986,298

MARKING ARTICLES Filed June 24, 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventors Hans Mey er Hemg UbynesPo/mah Attorney y 1961 H. MEYER ET AL 2,986,298

MARKING ARTICLES Filed June 24, 1957 6 s t s t 6 l I l l Inventors Hus Meyr Henry Taxes Dalman A Home y member 13 is inclined slightly forward in a convenient position for loading and it is movable by a simple forward pushing movement to a vertical operative position indicated in dotted lines where the upper face of the member comes below a heated presser member 14.

Pivoted to the rear of the member 13 is the presser bar 15 which in the normal position of the member 13 lies in the position shown in full lines but which serves after an article has been placed over the upper face of the member 13, to move into contact with the portion of the article or garment lying over the rear face of the member 13 and thus to grip said article when the member 13 is actuated to the dotted line pressing position shown. During this movement of the member 13 the presser 15 engages a yielding abutment 16 which effects rotary movement of the member 15 into the gripping position shown in dotted lines. An adjustment stop 17 is provided to determine the correct position of the member 13 when in the pressing position.

The member 13 may have any desired shape and it may for instance be continued by the arms 213 which assist in manipulating an article or garment being marked, and if desired the terminal ends of said arms may enter the stand 11 through a clearance aperture.

For this purpose of exerting pressure upon the tab or label it is possible for the heated presser member 14 to be vertically movable. Preferably however the heated presser 14 is stationary and an outwardly movable presser element is provided within the member 13 the upper face thereof incorporating the yieldable presser pad 18 (see also Figs. 3 and 4) consisting for example of synthetic material or a silicone rubber composition which is coincident with or slightly below the surface of the member 13.

According to one feature of the invention said presser pad is mounted in a housing which includes two or more electric lamp bulbs adapted to illuminate the article being marked from beneath in a manner which clearly indicates the section of article to which a tab will be applied.

Upward displacement of the presser pad 18 is effected by the actuating mechanism hereafter more fully described. The presser pad 18 may be mounted to slide within the member 13 and a lower stem portion thereof may embody adjusting nuts 19 operative against a spring 20 bearing against a sleeve 21 having outwardly directed trunnion pins 22 engageable by the forked and slotted ends of an actuating lever 26 hereinafter referred to.

A strip of tape 23 is fed through tape feed mechanism 70 having rollers 24, 25 actuated step-by-step with the machine and from said length of tape, labels or tabs 71 are cut off by the tape cut-off mechanism to be described (Fig. 6) and said tabs or labels are then fed to a printing mechanism and optionally passed over a solvent applying device to a position lying between the heated presser member 14 and the member 13 when brought into the operative position beneath the heated member 14. Thereafter the lever 26 is actuated and the presser pad 18 rises to clamp the article and the label together beneath the heated presser member 14 thereby to effect adhesion of the tab or label to the article. At the completion of the operating cycle the presser lever 26 is released and the member 13 swingsback to the normal position shown in full lines on Fig. 3.

Details of the operating mechanism will now be described. A shaft 30 shown on Fig. 2 is driven continuously in any convenient manner, for example by means of an electric motor and reduction gear and a one-revolution clutch indicated generally at 31 (Fig. 2), serves on each operation to impart a complete revolution to the main drive shaft 32 which causes one complete cycle of operation to be performed.

If desired a driving motor may be located in the lower part of the main casing 11 and coupled by a chain or otherwise to the driving sprocket indicated on Fig. 2. Alternatively however the motor may include a built in 4 reduction gear the output shaft of which is directly coupled to the shaft 30.

According to one feature of the present invention operation of the one revolution clutch 31 is initiated by the action of moving the member 13, with the garment thereon to be marked, into the working position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 and the said member 13 is automatically latched in this working position for the rest of the cycle. For this purpose the member 13 is coupled with a lever 33 extending into the casing 11 of the machine into line with a clutch release lever 34 pivoted at 35 to the frame. The upper end of the lever 34 engages a pawl 37 pivoted to a pin 38 on a clutch plate 36 f0rming part of the one revolution clutch 31 and coupled to the main shaft 32. The driving pawl 37 has an inwardly directed claw face 39 engageable with a ratchet wheel 40 on the continuously driven shaft 30 and also an outwardly directed face 41 engaged by a stop pin 42 on the clutch plate 36 when the pawl 37 is pressed against the upper end of the lever 34.

A spring 43 tends to press the pawl 37 in anticlockwise direction so as to effect engagement of the claw face 39 with the ratchet wheel 40, but such engagement is pre vented in the normal position (shown on Fig. 3) by the upper end of the lever 34, the latter being held in the position shown by the engagement of the lower part of the lever against the end face of the lever 33. The upper end corner of the lever 33 is notched as shown at 44 so that on depression of the lever 33 when the member 13 is pressed into the working position, shown by the dotted line position of the lever 33, the lever 34 is adapted to move in the anti-clockwise direction under the action of a spring, not shown, and consequent upon this movement the outwardly directed part 41 of the pawl 37 is released, whereupon the spring 43 effects engagement of the claw face 39 of the pawl 37 with the ratchet wheel 40 so that the clutch plate 36 is positively rotated to cause the machine to execute one working cycle. The lower tip of the lever 34 latches the lever 33 in the dotted position and thus holds the member 13 in the dotted working position shown.

Towards the end of one revolution of the clutch plate a pin 45 on the clutch plate 36 engages a forwardly projecting part 46 of the lever 34 and tends to cause movement thereof in the clockwise direction against the action of the spring acting on the lever 34; this releases the lever 33 which returns to the full line position with the pivoted member 13, and also brings the upper end of the lever 34 into the path of the outwardly directed face 41 of the pawl 37 and thus the latter is disengaged from the ratchet wheel 40 and the clutch plate 36 now stops with the end of the lever 34 pressing against the face 41 of the pawl 37. Possible reverse movement of the clutch plate 36 is prevented by a non-return pawl 47 engaging a notch in the clutch plate 36 as indicated.

The main drive shaft 32 carries a number of cams including a cam 48 actuating the lever 26 for imparting upward movement to the presser pad 18 as already explained, the lever 23 being pivoted at an intermediate point at 49.

The tape 23 utilised in carrying out the present invention preferably consists of or contains a thermoplastic substance said thermoplastic substance being if desired applied as a coating on the strip which may consist of a fabric or of a fibrous material in the nature of paper. Preferably however a woven or knitted fabric tape is employed, some of the component yarns of which are formed from a thermoplastic material such as cellulose acetate.

The tabs or labels 71 cut from the tape are provided with a printed or other indicating marking and optionally after treatment with a solvent they are brought by the mechanism to be more fully described between the presser members 14 and 18 which are then caused to approach one another so as to press the tab or label into adhering contact with the article, andsaid pressure is maintained for a sufficient period to give the desired degree of adhesion.

After a tab 71 has been cut from the tape strip 23 by means to be more fully described hereinafter, the tab is picked up by 'a rotary gripper 50 which as indicated in Fig. 4 carries it to a position A-in which it' is capable of being-printed upon by printing wheels shown in diagrarnmatic form at 110 on Fig. 7. The position shown inFig. 4 is in fact the normal rest position, the tab 71 shown in position A having been cut off the tape 23 and brought to position A at the end of the previous operating cycle.

The rotary gripper 50 is conveniently mounted as shownin Fig. 5 on a flange 63 of a shaft 51 adapted to receive an intermittent rotary movement, for example by means of a slotted Genevawheel 52; Actuation of the-wheel 52 step by-step is effected by. means of a driving; wheel 53 having driving pins 54 as usual in Geneva drive mechanism, locking of the wheel 52 being eflfected by the curved faces 55 of the wheel engaging the mating faces- 56 of a boss on the wheel 53. The driving wheel 53'is mounted on a vertical drive shaft 57 (Fig. 5) driven by bevel gears 58, 59, the latter being .mounted on the main shaft 3-2 as'also shown in Fig. 3.

The Geneva mechanism 52 to 56 is mounted in a recessed housing 61 in the top plate of the machine, said housing-being covered by a cover plate 62.

Thegripper 50 comprises a fixed outwardly directed bottom gripper jaw 501 and an upper displaceable gripperjaw- 502, the ends of the jaws 501, 502being designed so that one-edge (the leading edge) of the tab can begripped between them as indicated at A on Fig. 4. Conveniently the upper gripper 502 projects obliquely from a rotatable shank member 503 accommodated in suitable bearing lugsassociated with an arm 504 fixed to the shaft 51.

The said shaft 51 is of tubular form and is carried by a stub shaft 65 having a threaded bore at its upper end to accommodate a set screw 66 adapted to grip the rear end of an arm 67 extendingover the'path swept by the gripper 50. As shown in Fig.- 3 the rear end of the arm 67 is fixed to the frame adjacent or on the tape feed mechanism as indicated at 68 and the forward end of said member 67 carries the heated presser member 14 above referred to. The latter includes an electric heater and a sensitive thermostat adapted to maintain the heater at aconstant temperature, for example by a suitable control circuit, not shown, as it follows normal practice.

Acarn 69 is fitted to the stub shaft 65 above the gripper 'arm- 504 and the rear end of the spindle 503 carries an upwardly projecting arm 505 adapted to bear against the operative face of the cam 69. Thus itwill be seen that the-projecting face portionsof the cam 69 serve to open the gripper 50 when required and as will be explained more fully below. For convenience of adjustment the cam 69- consists of two discs each carrying a cam face. The arm 505 is operable by both cam faces and oneface controls the closing of the gripper jaws 501, 502 at the tab cut off position and the other controls the opening of the jaws when the tab has been attached to the article.

When the pivoted member 13 is moved inwards to the operative position at the start of marking the one-revolution clutch 3446 is started and the tab already at stationA is marked by printwheels 110 and is then carried through a quarter revolution by the action of the Geneva drive mechanism 52, 55 sothat the tab, still gripped between the jaws 501, 502 is presentedbetween the heated presser 14 and the upwardly movable pad 18 on the article support 13; this is position B. The part of the tab held between the jaws 501, 502 is not gripped between the presser 14 and the pad 18 and is not stuck to the article, and this part forms a free finger grip to assist later removal of the tab. After the pad 18 has moved to press the article and tab against the heated presser 14, the

gripper Stt'makes its extone-quarter revolution jaws- 501, 502'are released by the action of one ofthe' cams 69 on the stub shaft 65.

The gripper 50 now comes toa position at'18i)"frorrt" that shown onFig'. 4 although this is an inoperativeposb" tion, pressure being meanwhile maintained betweenth'e" grippers 18 and'14. On the next quarter revolution the" gripper 50'passes over a short strip of'tape material sup- 50. on the next quarter revolution the tab 71 "so cutis' brought to the station A indicated on Fig. 4 ready for the nextoperation and with the disengagement of the onerevolution-clutch thegripp'er 50 stops in-this'positi'on until the machine is again operated.

The tape cut oif mechanism will now be described; This is shown in plan in Figs. 2 to 5';.-the tape'23 is supplied froni a reel 231 in Fig. 1 and pas'ses between the rollers 24, 25 the roll 24 at' least being'preferably;corrugated to give a good drive action upon the'tape. The

spindle of the roller 25 carries'a ratchet wheel 82 en gageable by spring actuated pawls 83 on a rocker 84 pivotally mounted coaxially with the roller25. A link 85' is pivoted to the lower end of the rocker 84"andis con-' nectedat its -o'ther' end to a bell-crank lever 86' (Fig. 2). pivoted to the frame of the machine and'car'rying atiits free end-a roller 87 bearinglagainst a cam 88'on the main shaft 32.'

Thus during the' course of each operating; cycle the bell crank .86 is rocked and the link 85 transmits this' movement to the rocker 84' which, through thep'awls 83,

imparts'a small'an'gular'movement to the tape" feed roll" 25 so asto cause a small length 71 to be projected forwardly from the tape feed mechanism ready to be cut offby the cutter means shown in Fig. 6 in" front elevation.

A fixed knife blade 90*is positioned in'front of th'e ta-pe feed roll25 and co-operateS with a'movable cutting knife 91 actuated'by a slidable plunger 92 operated'as"herein-' after described. The lower blade 90 is preferably pivot ally mounted about'an'axis parallel to it's cutting edge and is subjected to the'action of'a spring (not shown) so* as to press the cutting edges into contact onewiththe other during the cutting operation. Preferably the upper cutting blade 91 is provided with adependinglportion 94 which is engaged by one corner edge of the lower blade 90 so as to guide the cutting edges into shearin'g'contact" when the upper blade 91 is depressed by the action of the plunger 92.

The plunger 92 is operated by means of a c'airi96 (Figs. 3 and 7') on the main shaft 32 through a twoarmed rocking'lever 97 pivoted at 98 tothe under side of the top'plate of the apparatus and havin'ga'projecting arm 99 linked-to the plunger92-by means of aconnector link 100;

The rocker 'arm 84 ofthe tape feedm'echanism is conveniently provided with a'finger' piece 101 which is :acces srble for hand manipulation when-required-to feeda-new length oftape to form a tab independently of the-operation of the machine, while the upper end ofthe plunger: 92 may be utilised for manual operation when itis de sired to testthe cutting action of the cutter blades 90,- 91.

As shown in Fig. 4 the tab in the rest position at station A is in the printing position and for printing purposes various types of mechanism or printing unit may be employed. Whatever mechanism or unit is utilisedhowever printing elements such as wheels will'be incorporated such as are shown at in Fig. 7 and the tab is adapted to b'eneatheach printing wheel 110 is a presser padelcment 111, there being one such element adjacent each printing wheel and all said elements are mounted in an actuator cup 112 by means of a block of resilient material such as indicated at 113. This permits any inequalities in the printing wheels 110 to be allowed for and ensures the production of satisfactory printing on the tab since each character is virtually printed independently.

To effect printing the cup or mounting 112 is actuated in the upward direction by means of a plunger 114 coupled to a bell crank lever 115 pivoted to the frame of the machine and one arm of said lever bears against a cam 116 mounted on the main shaft 32. Thus on starting of the machine from the position shown in Fig. 4 the first operation is the lifting of the actuator cup 112 to effect printing of the desired characters on the tab after which the rotary gripper 50 executes the first stage of its movement.

In many cases in this class of machine it is desirable to apply a quantity of solvent to the tab before it is applied to the article to be marked, and for this purpose the present invention also includes a solvent tank 120 and a feed pump 121. This pump comprises a tubular casing carrying a plunger and the lower end of said casing is provided with inlet ports 122. Since the pump barrel is immersed in the solvent tank 120 liquid flows into the lower part of the barrel when the plunger is lifted above said ports 122 while on depression of said plunger after the ports 122 have been covered the liquid is forced out through a delivery pipe shown at 123 in Fig. 2 from which it is delivered to the tab in passing from the station A to the pressing station B of Fig. 4. If desired the solvent may be sprayed on to the tab and a collecting cup 127 is provided as indicated in Figs. 4 to 7 to collect excess solvent and allow it to return back to the tank 120. Preferably the delivery of solvent is effected upwardly from a spray nozzle at the base of the cup 127 so that the solvent reaches the tab initially from the under side which is to be applied on to the article to be marked. Excess solvent is then returned from the cup 127 through a separate pipe to the tank 120. If on the other hand the solvent is applied to the upper side of the tab a swan neck delivery pipe (as indicated at 126 in Fig. 2) can be used and in this case one advantage of the form of pump shown and described is that weeping from the liquid delivery outlet is avoided by the fact that the upstroke of the plunger serves to withdraw excess solvent from the delivery pipe. This form of pump has proved to be particularly simple and efficient and the absence of any moving valves is an important factor and is of considerable advantage both for cheapness of construction and for reliability in use.

The solvent tank 120 is removable and is retained in a fixed mounting member'128 by means of a pivoted retaining latch 129 operable by a convenient finger lever 130. The mounting member 128 supports the pump 121 and also an actuator member therefor comprising a lever 131 conveniently of U-shape in plan and including a follower member 132 bearing against a cam 133 on the end of the main drive shaft 32 as shown also in Fig. 2.

Since the printing mechanism represented by the print wheels 110 in Fig. 7 may conveniently effect printing through the mechanism of a printing ribbon similar to a typewriter ribbon, it may be desirable to provide ribbon feed mechanism and for this purpose the lever 131 may be in driving engagement with an arm 135 projecting upwardly through the upper wall of the machine and the upper end of said lever may be forked as shown or otherwise have engagement with driving pins 136 associated with the ribbon feed mechanism so that on each operation of the machine the ribbon is fed forward by a small amount.

Other features will be briefly referred to: In Fig. 2 a depression 140 is shown in the upper plate of the machine. This depressionis to allow room for operating 8 mechanism for the printing wheels or their actuating means, which may be required in some cases.

Also Figs. 1 to 3 show a counter 141 for recording the total number of operations of the machine and conveniently said counter is actuated by a depending lever 142 engageable by an arm 143 projecting from a sleeve 144 carrying the non-return pawl 47 engaging the clutch plate 36. Thus on each operation of the clutch the pawl 47, which is subjected to the action of a spring (not shown) acting on the lever 143, is reciprocated and such movement results in imparting a rocking movement to the lever 142 which moves the counter 141 forward by one unit. Additionally a further counter 241 may be provided to permit the operator to check the number of articles which have received a given marking character. This latter counter may be operated by the same mechanism as that which operates the counter 141 and it includes a manual reset lever 242.

The operating sequence of the machine described and the method of using the machine to apply a market tab to a garment will readily be understood. The garment or other article is placed over the member 13 and when the garment or other article has been brought to the correct position the member 13 is moved inwards by the operator and immediately the lever 33 has disengaged the clutch actuating lever 34 the clutch plate 36 commences to make one complete revolution.

Immediately at the commencement of the operating cycle the printing of the tab 71 already in position A is effected and said printed tab then moves to position B between the article to be marked and the heated presser 14. As the tab moves from position A towards position B a small quantity of solvent is sprayed on its under face by the action of the solvent pump 121. Thereafter the pad 18 rises to grip the article and the tab between the elements 18 and '14 after which the article can be released by the operator who can then prepare the next article for marking while the machine completes the rest of its operating cycle. The pressure between the elements 18 and 14 is retained for an appropriate period and meanwhile the rotary gripper 50 moves one space forward to its inoperative position from the position A and then moves forward to position C, the gripper jaws 501, 502 closing on the leading edge of a length of tab material delivered by the tape feed rollers 24, 25. The projecting portion of the tape 23 is then severed as a tab 71 which is now gripped between the jaws 501, 502 and said tab is brought to position A whereupon the operating cycle is completed and the machine stops, the cam 48 having previously released the pad 18, after which the member 13 is released by the clockwise movement of the clutch release lever 34 so that the marked article moves out of the marking position with the forward movement of the cloth support member 13. The marked article may in some cases fall away when the member 13 executes its forward movement or alternatively the marked article may be readily removed and the next article placed in position and the operating cycle repeated as described.

What we claim is:

1. A machine for fixing tabs to textile articles comprising a carrying member movable through a path from a loading position to a pressing position and having an article supporting surface parallel to said path, a presser member movable transversely to and independently of said path of movement said carrying member, a displaceable tab gripper movable in an endless path to feed a tab to a position overlying said article supporting surface in said pressing position with suificient space therebetween for said article, and means to actuate said presser member to exert fixing pressure on said tab and on said article at said pressing position.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1 additionally comprising a relatively fixed presser member spaced above said carrying member in said pressing position and wherein said presser member is slidably mounted in said carrying member and is movable outwardly of said member to press an article with a tab thereon into engagement with said relatively fixed presser member.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said carrying member is pivoted on a horizontal axis at the front of said machine, is forwardly inclined in said loading position, and is substantially vertical in said pressing position, and said presser member is movable in a direction towards and away from said horizontal axis.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 3 additionally comprising a retainer bar pivotally mounted on the rear face of said carrying member and an abutment engageable by said retainer as said carrying member is moved toward said pressing position whereby said retainer will be pressed against a part of an article overhanging said carrying member to hold said article in said pressing position.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 3 wherein said gripper includes a pair of relatively movable jaws, one jaw being opened and closed relative to the other by means of a lever and relatively stationary cam elements.

6. A machine as claimed in claim 1 additionally comprising means to sever said tabs from a tape and wherein said displaceable gripper is movable in a horizontal plane and is adapted to be engaged with one edge of a length of said tape, said length defining a tab which is severed from said tape after said engagement by said gripper, and said gripper being further adapted to carry said severed tab to said overlying position, thereafter releasing said severed tab, and continue said end-less path to engage the next tab to be severed from said tape.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 6 additionally comprising means for intermittently rotating said gripper during an operating cycle of said machine, each such cycle being initiated by movement of said carrying member from said loading position toward said pressing position, means to mark an identification on said severed tab, and means to continue said gripper movement to engage said next tab while said fixing pressure is maintained.

8. A machine as claimed in claim 7 additionally comprising means to register the total of successive complete cycles of said machine.

9. A machine as claimed in claim 7 additionally comprising means operative at each said cycle to feed said length of tape into said gripper path and wherein said tab trails said gripper to said overlying position, said presser means being operative upon said tab and said article except for the tab portion engaged by said gripper, whereby on release of said tab by said gripper a free edge portion is provided on the tab to form an unattached finger grip element.

10. A machine as claimed in claim 9 wherein the 10 width of said tape corresponds to the longer dimension of said tab, said gripper is adapted to engage one Of the smaller dimensions of said tab and to position said severed tab in facial contact with said article in said overlying position.

11. A machine as claimed in claim 10 wherein the sides of said tape are sealed to inhibit fraying whereby said one smaller dimension edge engaged by said gripper to form said finger grip is sealed while the severed edges formed during severance of the tab are secured to said article.

12. A machine according to claim 10 additionally comprising means to support a roll of said tape towards the rear of said machine, said tape being fed forwardly in a horizontal plane into said gripper path rotating in a horizontal plane to move each successive severed tab through from the rear to the front of the machine, and said overlying position is located at said front.

13. A machine as claimed in claim 8 additionally comprising tape feed rollers between which said tape is passed from said roll to said gripper.

14. A machine for fixing heat sealable tabs to textile articles comprising carrying member pivoted on a horizontal axis at the front of said machine through a path from a forwardly inclined loading position to a substantially vertical pressing position and having an article supporting surface on the free end parallel to said path, a displaceable tab gripper movable in an endless path in a horizontal plane disposed closely above the free end of said carrying member to feed said tabs singly to a position overlying said article supporting surface in said pressing position with sufficient space therebetween for said article, a presser member movable transversely to the path of said article supporting member, and a relatively fixed heated member spaced above said carrying member in said pressing position, said presser member being outwardly movably mounted in said carrying member, and means to move said presser member into heat sealing engagement with said heated presser member to efiect heat sealing of said tab to said article positioned therebetween.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,695,964 Lang Dec. 18, 1928 2,303,508 Sjoberg Dec. 1, 1942 2,523,765 Johansson Sept. 26, 1950 2,527,272 Lyons et al. Oct. 24, 1950 2,654,495 Meyer Oct. 6, 1953 2,654,496 Meyer et al. Oct. 6, 1953 2,825,480 Braun Mar. 4, 1958 

